Global alternative asset and private equity investor KKR an agreement with by water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions provider Ecolab

Water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions provider Ecolab announced today an agreement to acquire liquid data center cooling solutions provider CoolIT from KKR, in a deal valuing the company at $4.75 billion, generating a return of approximately 15 times the private equity company’s original equity invested in 2023, inclusive of distributions.

Founded in 2001, Calgary, Canada-based CoolIT initially designed direct liquid cooling systems targeted at the desktop gaming industry, and in 2014 began designing products for datacenters and server OEMs, responding to the need for direct liquid cooling in the data center industry.

The transaction comes as data center operators are looking to tackle the sustainability and energy aspects of their rapidly expanding footprints, with cooling accounting for a major portion of data centers’ energy and water usage. Relative to air-cooled data centers, liquid-cooled data centers use  roughly 30-40% less energy for cooling while also reducing water consumption as a closed-loop system.

KKR acquired CoolIT in 2023 through its Global Impact Strategy, launched by the firm in 2018 to invest in companies with business models that provide commercial solutions to environmental or social challenges, particularly those contributing measurable progress toward one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the time of the acquisition, KKR cited growing demand for energy-efficient data center cooling, and noted that CoolIT directly supports SDG 7, “Affordable and Clean Energy,” SDG 9, “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,” and SDG 13, “Climate Action.”

Kyle Matter, Managing Director and Head of North America Global Impact at KKR, said:

“We acted early on the conviction that rapid growth in computing demand would pose a significant challenge for data center efficiency, as traditional air-cooled systems can be incredibly energy- and water-intensive. As a leader in liquid cooling, CoolIT delivers compelling solutions that strengthen this critical infrastructure while reducing resource consumption.

“This outcome reflects exactly the type of opportunity we seek in our Global Impact strategy.”

Ecolab said that the acquisition will enable it to bolster its Cooling-as-a-Service offering, which helps AI data centers improve performance, reduce downtime and lower water use across their operations, by combining CoolIT’s technologies with its own capabilities in water, chemistry, fluid management, digital monitoring and global service.

Ecolab Chairman and CEO Christophe Beck said:

“AI is transforming the demands on data centers, and liquid cooling is one of the critical technologies that makes advanced computing possible. By bringing together CoolIT’s engineered cooling technologies with Ecolab’s expertise in water, chemistry and digital service, we can provide our customers a complete cooling solution that improves performance and reliability while reducing water and energy use.”